In The Background
by Sarcastic Psycho
Summary: Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro. A captain and his first mate. Dumped in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Eiichiro Oda does.**

 **Just a random idea floating around my head that I decided to write down. Time-traveling in an odd way :P  
**

* * *

The world around him blinked off, then on, then he was standing on the white sand, facing a bright blue horizon in perfect silence.

But everything around him was far from perfect.

Behind him were seven freshly covered grave.

"Captain."

He turned ever so slowly to look at his bandaged swords man standing twenty feet away, arms crossed, lips flat and gaze steady.

"Zoro." He shifted his gaze back towards the horizon, eyes dull. "We made it. We fulfilled our dreams."

The world's greatest swords man remained silent for a moment. "Do you regret it, Captain?"

Silence.

"Gol D. Roger buried all the treasures and riches he had in this Island, it only seems fitting that the new Pirate King buried his most precious treasures here as well. They would have liked it here, don't you think so Zoro?"

Zoro looked at him for several seconds, then shifted his eyes to the horizon. "Yes, Captain. They would have liked it."

Luffy gripped his straw-hat tightly in his hands. "Shanks...Ace, I did it. I kept my promise." Silent tears dripped down his face.

He placed the hat on top of the short pole on which the Straw hat flag proudly swayed with the wind.

"Come Zoro, it's getting late. We leave in the morning." Luffy walked away from the grave site and

walked inland towards a cave where they would sleep for the night.

"Yes Captain." Zoro followed a step behind and cast one last glance at the resting place of his crewmates and bowed his head. _Farewell. My friends..my family._

* * *

Zoro sat with his back against the wall at the entrance of the cave and his swords at his side, listening to the soft rhythm of his captain's heart beats. He checked their surrounding one last time and then he too welcomed sleep.

Luffy dreamed.

He dreamed of the time when he was with his brothers, a time when they were care-free and careless. A time when all the mattered to them was getting strong, eating and dreaming about becoming pirates. When Ace was still alive.

That dream shattered when his mind exploded with black light that seared his nerves. He jerked up and opened his mouth in a silent scream. He wasn't sure if the pain came from the darkness itself or from his sudden movement. The darkness was in front of him, striding forward from a surreal world, reaching for him.

A groan met his ears and he jerked towards the sound.

Zoro.

Then the pain was gone. And the darkness had vanished.

Luffy wanted it all to be gone, wanted to wake up -if this was a dream-, maybe even wanted to die, but darkness still fogged the corners of his vision. He could hear his breathing, long and heavy, echoing in the cave.

 _"Pirate King."_

Luffy froze at the sound and looked behind him. A dim light shone further into the cave.

 _"Come."_

He stood up and hesitated, but the light was too alluring. He moved towards it, his feet light and steady.

"Luffy." A child's voice whispered ahead of him.

"Hello?"

The voice giggled.

Luffy smiled. He ran faster and further into the cave and stopped in front of a lake. "Hello?"

"Luffy, up here."

He snapped his head up and saw that the lake further in was brighter.

"Come up here, Luffy."

He ran across the rocks that littered the lake, desperate to be with the one whose voice spoke. He knew the sound. He knew this voice.

"Luffy."

"Ace?" He began to cry spontaneously. "ACE!" He was weeping and laughing at once, as if his mind had forgotten how to separate the emotions that caused each.

In his desperate attempt to reach the voice he miscalculated his step and fell into the shallow end of the lake. "Ace! Ace! WAIT!" he cried.

"I'm right here, Luffy. Still a crybaby I see."

He jumped out of the lake and searched the area for the boy. There in front of the lake ahead of him was a small boy, with his back to Luffy, staring over the edge.

He was young, with black hair and tanned skin, standing less than five feet tall. He turned and grinned at him. Luffy's heart forgot how to pump in that moment. It was Ace as he remembered him at twelve.

He walked up and approached the boy's side. He wanted to speak but he was having difficulty thinking clearly. If this was a dream, then he doesn't want to wake up. And then Luffy saw the tears that darkened the boy's cheeks and he felt blood drain from his face.

Luffy sank to one knee, smothered by a great sadness. He didn't know why little Ace was crying, but the sight of it flogged his mind.

"Luffy, you promised! YOU PROMISED!"

 _Luffy you promised._ Luffy knew what he meant. A promise to live a life without regrets.

 _Do you regret it Captain?_ Zoro asked that. And yes, sometimes he did.

Then Ace moved forward and dove into the bright water.

Luffy took a step forward and merely stared at the disappearing form of his brother.

"Ace! Aceeeee!." He kicked off his sandals and started to tread in the deep water. He felt himself getting weak but he didn't care. Luffy took a deep breath and plunged under.

* * *

Luffy stroked with his arms and kicked, swimming quickly so he wouldn't change his mind. Deeper, deeper. Gradually the water became warm. It occurred to him that the pool could be fed by an underground river.

If he swam deep enough he might be sucked in.

Beneath the surface of the water was dark.

He swam deeper. Eyes searching for a sign of his brother.

His lungs started to burn.

Luffy let himself float for a moment, eyes closed, adrenaline racing and mind reeling. Then he was sinking again. This was a mistake. A very bad idea.

He couldn't make himself swallow water. He couldn't! Even if he tried his body would rebel. His mind rebelled at the mere thought.

And then he was out of air.

On instinct he exhaled and then inhaled.

The mouthful of water made him sputter. Sparks filled his vision and he clutched his throat, kicking toward what he thought was the surface then realized wasn't.

Luffy sucked in another breath to scream. Choking on water, he now knew he'd never make it. This cursed lake was determined to have him and would take him straight into its gullet.

Death had come. So be it. At least he got to see Ace one last time.

He breathed out, pursed his lips and glared into the dark.

Then opened his mouth and took in a long, gluttonous breath.

Water scraped down his lungs like sharp claws, and yellow and red and blue tinged his sight. He didn't fight it.

Against all urge to struggle, Luffy curled up his rubbery limbs together and took another defiant drag of killing water.

His heart stopped, his lungs no longer cried for air and begged him to relieve them of water. His limbs did not move. He did not blink. He was suspended in the water in a dead man's float.

Someone's screams and yells penetrated the water and he opened his eyes to see the shadow of a hand reaching for him. He smiled.

 _You came for me._

And all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Few on the shore paid any heed to the two ships that sailed down the water. Shortly after the _Moby Dick_ let down her anchor, Whitebeard gave an order to his First Mate. "Marco, see that we replace the stores consumed."

"Yes, sir." Marco looked around and seeing Thatch and one of the member of the family-Ace-standing idly at the rail watching the skyline, snapped. "Thatch! Ace! Come along with me."

"What's up, Bluebell?" Thatch inquired snickering.

"Ashore to get supplies."

Thatch winked at Ace, who whispered, "Shore leave!" and the two of them loaded some empty casks and large barrels onto the ship's small boat and rowed to shore. When they reached the main part of town, Marco found that the sake needed to fill some of the casks had to be brought from a warehouse and some of the other supplies could only be obtained by waiting until the next morning.

"I've got to get back to the ship," he said with considerable irritation. "You two stay and load the sake this afternoon. You can sleep ashore with the supplies we've already got, then pick up the rest in the morning." He handed a slip of paper to Thatch, saying, "It's all paid for-here's the receipt."

"We'll take good care of it for you, Bluebell."

Marco's eyebrow ticked at the nickname and gave him a dubious look, "Stay out of the bars and don't get into trouble or I'll have you mopping the entire deck of the _Moby Dick_ a month. Understand?"

"I thought we'd spend the night in prayer and meditation," Thatch said, adopting what he assumed was a pious expression.

Despite himself, Marco grinned. "That I doubt, but mind what I say, yoi! Ace, you see to it that you two stay out of trouble."

The first division commander whirled around abruptly and stalked back towards the docks, and Thatch grinned at his companion, "You heard the man, Ace. Watch me and be sure I don't get myself into mischief."

Ace, a cheerful young man of nineteen with a boyish freckled face and a pair of knowing dark eyes, nodded at Thatch. "But who's going to watch me, Thatch?" The two of them laughed and moved at once to the nearest bar.

It was a long hot afternoon, so the two of them kept to the relatively cool interior of the bar, though the heat didn't affect the freckled teen. They sat drinking and stuffing themselves with food, leaving the cave like darkness only long enough to make their way to the next food house.

By late afternoon, both men were pleasantly half drunk and their bellies full. Thatch had to roust his younger companion who had fallen asleep on his food, out of the restaurant to get the remainder of the ship's order of sake. They saw to the filling of the casks-more specifically Thatch saw to it while Ace snored his time away on one of the barrels- stowed them in the wagon that Marco had rented for hauling the supplies then drove idly until the found stable, where they paid a small fee for stabling the horse.

Ace slumped down on the hay, falling asleep even before his head hit the hay.

* * *

Marco walked around the street of the harbor, watching the sun drop slowly into the pale grey ocean. He had finished his work on the ship and after spending weeks on end on the sea, he decided to allow his division shore leave. The tang of the air was sharp as he thought of the many islands and lands he's visited.

 _The sea's always the same,_ he thought, _no matter how different the land or the people._

As the heat of the day began to seep away, he savoured the cool breeze and finally turned from the docks and walked along the cobblestone streets. Turning aside, he walked slowly to the wharf where the ships were ling at anchor offshore. From time to time he sipped from the silver flask which he brought with him, flinching as the strong liquid bit at his throat. When he looked towards the _Moby Dick_ he could make out her lines and he pondered on the many memories he had made on it with his family. He leaned against a round pier, aware of the harsh anthem of the gulls as they fought over scraps thrown over the rail by one of his brother. The waves lapped at the wharf, making a sibilant symphony. Looking overhead he saw a frigate bird appear and watched as it sailed majestically on the wind, a graceful outline in the quickening shadows.

As the creature soared over the earth, Marco thought it looked like a clipper ship, but when the bird landed it lost all grace. It suddenly seemed to transform into a clown with a ragged suit and an absurd face-though with a cruel and feral eye. Marco waves his arms and the bird flapped his wings frantically and lifted off, quickly gaining altitude until he flew in a sweeping circle overhead. As Marco watched, he heard a voice so close behind him that he was startled. He whirled, lifting his hands in defence.

"What sort of bird was that?"

A young man wearing a dark green cloak stood watching him. The hood of his cloak was on but he could make out an oval face with large round eyes and wavy black hair in the dimming light.

He regarded his raised hands without comment and Marco dropped them quickly. "That? A frigate bird." When the young man looked up and gazed at the bird in question, he added. "Not a very nice fellow I'm afraid, yoi."

"Not nice?"

He was quite tall and there was an openness about him that Marco could not quite explain. "He's a pirate, yoi. He steals, that is to say."

"You're saying that like pirates are not nice people. You're a pirate, does that mean you're not nice?"

Marco stepped closer to the young man, studied him and asked, "How did you know?"

"Your mark," he said pointing at the blonde's chest. His voice was quite deep and husky and Marco tried to think of another question to ask him, but he evidently had a one track mind. "Are you not nice, Whitebeard pirate?"

"Some people would say that." Though he didn't seem the least bit afraid of him, the blonde also noted that there was no air of boldness around him. He simply seemed at ease.

He remained silent, watching as the frigate bird wheeled overhead then finally disappear into the darkness. "It's never what other people believe about you that defines you, it's what you yourself believe about you that defines you," he said softly. "That's what my teacher told me once upon a time, a long long time ago."

Just then the sound of a fiddle floated to them, carried on the wind from one of the ships that bobbed with the tide. The music made a plaintive sound and the young man turned his head to one side and stood in the falling darkness listening hard.

Finally he said, "That man's good. I know that song. My friend used to play it a lot." He gave Marco a quick look, then glanced around noting how dark it had grown. "Goodnight," he said and turned to go.

"Don't go, yoi," Marco said. He took hold of his arm, adding. "Stay and talk for a bit."

"No, I must go now. My companion's waiting for me." He tried to pull away. Black eyes met blue and Marco saw no anger or fear there. Only blank bottomless dark pools. "Let me go please," he said in an even voice. When he continued to hold on to his arms, he stated quietly. "If you value your life you'd let me go."

His judgement numbed by lack of sleep and alcohol, Marco decided his passive attitude piqued him. What would it take to shake the composure he wrapped himself in?

"You're drunk, let me go." The young man said tonelessly.

Marco frowned wondering where such control came from, here he was a defenseless young man being held 'captive' by the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. He found himself admiring his calmness.

"Yes, I'm drunk," he said with a nod. "Thank your lucky stars that I'm not even drunker, yoi."

He stood where he was for a moment studying him then nodded. "Good night. And you might want to consider going to bed. You could use a good sleep." With that, he turned and walked away, his back straight and his steps precise and even.

Marco laughed silently, watching until he was out of sight. After letting out a small wave of observation haki, he made his way to the stable where he found Ace and Thatch sleeping on the hay. Marco sat on the keg thinking back on the dark haired young man with haunting dark eyes that had appeared out of nowhere. Finally he stretched out on the straw and said to the horse, who gave him an inquiring look, "Yes, horse, I had a few words with a mysterious young man. All innocent, I assure you."

The horse, a dappled bay, snorted at this information and presumed chomping on wisps of hay.

* * *

He slid through the darkening streets weaving his way around the sea of people that were making their way home.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" His companion asked as soon as he rounded a corner.

"Yes," he pulled his cloak tighter around himself. "They're here."

"Are we still…"

"We wait."

"Lu-"

"We wait and we watch. He hasn't found it yet." Luffy pulled his hood back and smiled up at his First Mate. "How did your hunt go?"

Zoro snorted. "Too easy." He tossed his captain a bag of money. "It's only a matter of time."

"By then you and I will be there to stop him." Luffy stashed the money in his bag. "Their log pose will set in two days. Get everything we need by then."

"Yes, Captain."


End file.
